Silver Spring's Eastern Middle School gets slammed for rewarding good students

[Anonymous]

Look how proud the first boy is of himself! Love that. Now listen to the reporter interview the kids, and how she tries to twist this into a fairness issue. Then listen to the BRILLIANCE of the children when they respond to the reporter, esp. the little girl interviewed. Motivation to work harder. Imagine that!!

http://www.myfoxdc.com/video?clipId=9804430&autostart=true#axzz2tOQ6VTts

[Anonymous]

But the party doesn't reward kids for hard work or improvement; it rewards kids for getting good grades. Moreover, it does so by creating a caste system.

[Anonymous]

The highly gifted program is just as bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the party doesn't reward kids for hard work or improvement; it rewards kids for getting good grades. Moreover, it does so by creating a caste system.

I agree with this. It's a cruel message for the kids who are working as hard as they can and still fall short of an A.

However, I do agree with the OP that the reporter was being manipulative.

[Anonymous]

Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the party doesn't reward kids for hard work or improvement; it rewards kids for getting good grades. Moreover, it does so by creating a caste system.

What exactly then is hard work? Getting good grades means those kids worked hard and received outstanding grades. I don't understand your comment.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to real life, where you are rewarded on the base of a sometimes flawed standard of achievement, and definitely not on effort!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

This would be a good motto for Ayn Rand Middle School. I, on the other hand, think there can be a more progressive and nurturing approach for 12 year old children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the party doesn't reward kids for hard work or improvement; it rewards kids for getting good grades. Moreover, it does so by creating a caste system.

What exactly then is hard work? Getting good grades means those kids worked hard and received outstanding grades. I don't understand your comment.

Some kids get good grades easily. Other kids work very hard and still only get Bs and Cs. That's why it doesn't reward hard work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

This would be a good motto for Ayn Rand Middle School. I, on the other hand, think there can be a more progressive and nurturing approach for 12 year old children.

I agree. Just because the adult world is harsh and cruel doesn't mean we want to mimic that for children. In fact, I would hope that we educate our children in such a way that they will create a better environment as adults, one that isn't "the ends justify the means." I feel in the adult world now, people get rewarded even when their accomplishment is based on back-stabbing, cheating, undermining others. Even though success and accomplishment are important in the workplace, there should still be a sense of fairness and cooperation. After all, very RARELY is an accomplishment or success just attributable to the efforts of one person. My experience has been that usually a lot of people's hard work contributed to the success, but the boss only rewards the one who self-promotes the most or gets the most visibility.

Everyone says that children are our future, and yet people are insistent on raising children in such a way as they will conform to the way the world is now. If we truly believe children are our future, then we should raise them in such a way that they will transform the world to make it better, not just keep in motion all of the old problems and nastiness.

It's about balance. You can encourage success and accomplishment without shutting out students who work hard but don't necessarily reach the same goals. It isn't about giving an award to everyone. It's about setting up values. The value that we want to instill isn't "getting an A." The value we want to instill is studying and working hard so that you get the best grade possible. Believe it or not, some kids get As easily. They didn't work hard. Other kids study and study and still can't get an A. If they see that their hard work not only doesn't get them an A but also means they're excluded, then they give up. And that is a bigger problem in school. I knew people in high school who had labeled themselves in such a way that they gave up, because they felt like even when they studied hard, they still didn't do as well.

I've also known people for whom As came easily growing up. they never had to work hard. They actually haven't done well as adults because they learned that they could be lazy and still be praised and rewarded. All the praise they got from their teachers didn't serve them well because it was praise for a result, a result that came naturally to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

This would be a good motto for Ayn Rand Middle School. I, on the other hand, think there can be a more progressive and nurturing approach for 12 year old children.

I agree. Just because the adult world is harsh and cruel doesn't mean we want to mimic that for children. In fact, I would hope that we educate our children in such a way that they will create a better environment as adults, one that isn't "the ends justify the means." I feel in the adult world now, people get rewarded even when their accomplishment is based on back-stabbing, cheating, undermining others. Even though success and accomplishment are important in the workplace, there should still be a sense of fairness and cooperation. After all, very RARELY is an accomplishment or success just attributable to the efforts of one person. My experience has been that usually a lot of people's hard work contributed to the success, but the boss only rewards the one who self-promotes the most or gets the most visibility.

Everyone says that children are our future, and yet people are insistent on raising children in such a way as they will conform to the way the world is now. If we truly believe children are our future, then we should raise them in such a way that they will transform the world to make it better, not just keep in motion all of the old problems and nastiness.

It's about balance. You can encourage success and accomplishment without shutting out students who work hard but don't necessarily reach the same goals. It isn't about giving an award to everyone. It's about setting up values. The value that we want to instill isn't "getting an A." The value we want to instill is studying and working hard so that you get the best grade possible. Believe it or not, some kids get As easily. They didn't work hard. Other kids study and study and still can't get an A. If they see that their hard work not only doesn't get them an A but also means they're excluded, then they give up. And that is a bigger problem in school. I knew people in high school who had labeled themselves in such a way that they gave up, because they felt like even when they studied hard, they still didn't do as well.

I've also known people for whom As came easily growing up. they never had to work hard. They actually haven't done well as adults because they learned that they could be lazy and still be praised and rewarded. All the praise they got from their teachers didn't serve them well because it was praise for a result, a result that came naturally to them.

I guess you have a good point here. I'd have to agree. That said, it is up to the parent to help their award winning child keep that chip off their shoulder and the other child to see that their value is not tied to whether they win an award or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

This would be a good motto for Ayn Rand Middle School. I, on the other hand, think there can be a more progressive and nurturing approach for 12 year old children.

I agree. Just because the adult world is harsh and cruel doesn't mean we want to mimic that for children. In fact, I would hope that we educate our children in such a way that they will create a better environment as adults, one that isn't "the ends justify the means." I feel in the adult world now, people get rewarded even when their accomplishment is based on back-stabbing, cheating, undermining others. Even though success and accomplishment are important in the workplace, there should still be a sense of fairness and cooperation. After all, very RARELY is an accomplishment or success just attributable to the efforts of one person. My experience has been that usually a lot of people's hard work contributed to the success, but the boss only rewards the one who self-promotes the most or gets the most visibility.

Everyone says that children are our future, and yet people are insistent on raising children in such a way as they will conform to the way the world is now. If we truly believe children are our future, then we should raise them in such a way that they will transform the world to make it better, not just keep in motion all of the old problems and nastiness.

It's about balance. You can encourage success and accomplishment without shutting out students who work hard but don't necessarily reach the same goals. It isn't about giving an award to everyone. It's about setting up values. The value that we want to instill isn't "getting an A." The value we want to instill is studying and working hard so that you get the best grade possible. Believe it or not, some kids get As easily. They didn't work hard. Other kids study and study and still can't get an A. If they see that their hard work not only doesn't get them an A but also means they're excluded, then they give up. And that is a bigger problem in school. I knew people in high school who had labeled themselves in such a way that they gave up, because they felt like even when they studied hard, they still didn't do as well.

I've also known people for whom As came easily growing up. they never had to work hard. They actually haven't done well as adults because they learned that they could be lazy and still be praised and rewarded. All the praise they got from their teachers didn't serve them well because it was praise for a result, a result that came naturally to them.

DAYUMMMMMM
That was very, very well-said!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the party doesn't reward kids for hard work or improvement; it rewards kids for getting good grades. Moreover, it does so by creating a caste system.

What exactly then is hard work? Getting good grades means those kids worked hard and received outstanding grades. I don't understand your comment.

Some kids get good grades easily. Other kids work very hard and still only get Bs and Cs. That's why it doesn't reward hard work.

That may be true for some, but for the vast majority of kids, grades reflect the effort put in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

This would be a good motto for Ayn Rand Middle School. I, on the other hand, think there can be a more progressive and nurturing approach for 12 year old children.

I agree. Just because the adult world is harsh and cruel doesn't mean we want to mimic that for children. In fact, I would hope that we educate our children in such a way that they will create a better environment as adults, one that isn't "the ends justify the means." I feel in the adult world now, people get rewarded even when their accomplishment is based on back-stabbing, cheating, undermining others. Even though success and accomplishment are important in the workplace, there should still be a sense of fairness and cooperation. After all, very RARELY is an accomplishment or success just attributable to the efforts of one person. My experience has been that usually a lot of people's hard work contributed to the success, but the boss only rewards the one who self-promotes the most or gets the most visibility.

Everyone says that children are our future, and yet people are insistent on raising children in such a way as they will conform to the way the world is now. If we truly believe children are our future, then we should raise them in such a way that they will transform the world to make it better, not just keep in motion all of the old problems and nastiness.

It's about balance. You can encourage success and accomplishment without shutting out students who work hard but don't necessarily reach the same goals. It isn't about giving an award to everyone. It's about setting up values. The value that we want to instill isn't "getting an A." The value we want to instill is studying and working hard so that you get the best grade possible. Believe it or not, some kids get As easily. They didn't work hard. Other kids study and study and still can't get an A. If they see that their hard work not only doesn't get them an A but also means they're excluded, then they give up. And that is a bigger problem in school. I knew people in high school who had labeled themselves in such a way that they gave up, because they felt like even when they studied hard, they still didn't do as well.

I've also known people for whom As came easily growing up. they never had to work hard. They actually haven't done well as adults because they learned that they could be lazy and still be praised and rewarded. All the praise they got from their teachers didn't serve them well because it was praise for a result, a result that came naturally to them.

The system that this school used to reward the students was not "harsh." Most of the kids got a party for crying out loud. Based on the news story, it seems that the only kids that did not get to come to the party were the ones that got grades lower than "C's." The "D" students should not be rewarded for their grade. That being said, they shouldn't be left out in the cold either. We do not know what the school nor the kids parents are doing to help the students that are not achieving. Also, I doubt that this is the only way that this school is rewarding their students. Most kids do not get A's easily, but a few do. For the vast majority of kids, getting an A is a reflection of studying, working hard and putting in the effort. No one is saying that getting an A means that you are going to be successful in life. However, it is truly the exceptional and rare individual, that gets poor grades or drops out of school and still has a successful life. It happens, but it is outside the norm. At the end of the day, I think it is a great idea to reward kids for getting good grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Caste system, pah-lease! This is good training for real life. Your boss will not reward you for working hard. Your boss rewards you for success, achievement and accomplishment. The best students got pizza, soda, a game room and some dancing. The B and C students got soda as a reward. Other student got to come later

This would be a good motto for Ayn Rand Middle School. I, on the other hand, think there can be a more progressive and nurturing approach for 12 year old children.

I agree. Just because the adult world is harsh and cruel doesn't mean we want to mimic that for children. In fact, I would hope that we educate our children in such a way that they will create a better environment as adults, one that isn't "the ends justify the means." I feel in the adult world now, people get rewarded even when their accomplishment is based on back-stabbing, cheating, undermining others. Even though success and accomplishment are important in the workplace, there should still be a sense of fairness and cooperation. After all, very RARELY is an accomplishment or success just attributable to the efforts of one person. My experience has been that usually a lot of people's hard work contributed to the success, but the boss only rewards the one who self-promotes the most or gets the most visibility.

Everyone says that children are our future, and yet people are insistent on raising children in such a way as they will conform to the way the world is now. If we truly believe children are our future, then we should raise them in such a way that they will transform the world to make it better, not just keep in motion all of the old problems and nastiness.

It's about balance. You can encourage success and accomplishment without shutting out students who work hard but don't necessarily reach the same goals. It isn't about giving an award to everyone. It's about setting up values. The value that we want to instill isn't "getting an A." The value we want to instill is studying and working hard so that you get the best grade possible. Believe it or not, some kids get As easily. They didn't work hard. Other kids study and study and still can't get an A. If they see that their hard work not only doesn't get them an A but also means they're excluded, then they give up. And that is a bigger problem in school. I knew people in high school who had labeled themselves in such a way that they gave up, because they felt like even when they studied hard, they still didn't do as well.

I've also known people for whom As came easily growing up. they never had to work hard. They actually haven't done well as adults because they learned that they could be lazy and still be praised and rewarded. All the praise they got from their teachers didn't serve them well because it was praise for a result, a result that came naturally to them.

I guess you have a good point here. I'd have to agree. That said, it is up to the parent to help their award winning child keep that chip off their shoulder and the other child to see that their value is not tied to whether they win an award or not.

One approach could be to reward based on group accomplishment. So let's take the party idea. Tell the kids that the class has to reach Goal X in order to have a party. Let's say Goal X is a math test. One group of kids in the class has aced the material; another has not. Break the kids in groups and have the kids who have aced it try to explain the material and assist the kids who have not. The kids for whom the material comes easily are challenged because it is one thing to solve a problem; it is quite another to explain to another person how to solve a problem. It challenges those kids to be leaders. It also helps the kids who are struggling by giving them one on one attention. And often a kid will learn more from a peer than from the teacher, because a kid will explain something in terms another kid will more easily understand. It also teaches the kids to cooperate, because the reward depends on cooperation.

It amazes me when parents complain that their advanced kid isn't challenged if he/she is with not-so-advanced kids. Because there are actually ways to challenge the advanced kids. And it isn't by just surrounding them with other advanced kids.

I tutored when I was in school, and honestly, the material I tutored is the material that, to this day, I know the best. It was a challenge communicating concepts so that someone else could understand. It also taught me valuable skills that I have certainly used as an adult. And it also fostered in me an inclination to understand people instead of dismiss them.

This is just one suggestion of how a reward, such as a party, could be used in a school or a classroom.

But it has to be a combination of group work and individual achievement. Group work where just one product is submitted often results in one or two kids doing all of the work. But a system whereby all kids will have to do an independent assessment but the incentive for all is for the class as a whole to do well gets around that problem.